Lakers News: An Early Peek At Nike's Latest Signature LeBron James Kicks
To celebrate seemingly immortal All-NBA Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James's 20th season in the league, when he will most likely break another all-time Laker legend and NBA Mount Rushmore occupant, "Cap" Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Nike is set to unleash LBJ's latest signature sneaker upon the world next month: the LeBron 20s.
An all-pink iteration of the shoe first popped up during pro-am Drew League games this summer. Per Joyce Li of Hype Beast, the sneaker will also be available in a "Violet Frost" color scheme that nods to the classic Lakers purple and gold (a purple mesh body, along with a paisley pattern in the same color, plus gold-toned touches that include the Nike swish).
The King James lion icon and his classic dunk silhouette will reportedly be displayed on the outsole of the "Violet Frost" edition of the kicks.
Jared Ebanks of Sneaker News and Mario Briguglio of Sneaker Bar Detroit unpack a black mesh version that also boasts a gold-colored Nike swish, plus some crimson red fringe coloring, that reportedly harkens back to the 10th anniversary of the King's first title while with the Miami Heat. Lakers fans will remember that James also won his most recent title against the Heat.
The new sneakers appear to have been inadvertently released via Finish Line's website earlier this week, though they are no longer listed on the site.
Li reports that Nike's new-look LeBron 20s will hit physical shops and Nike's online store on October 15th. Per Briguglio, the shoes are set to run customers a cool $200.
On the hardwood, James is hoping to rock the shoes en route to a bounce-back season following a disappointing 2021-22 run. Just two years removed from that 2020 title (the 6'9" tweener forward's fourth), L.A. offloaded most of its depth in exchange for the bloated contract of point guard Russell Westbrook, in the hopes of turning the former MVP into the Lakers' own Heatles-era Dwyane Wade. No one in the Lakers front office appeared to consider the details, namely that the 2010-11 vintage of Dwyane Wade was an excellent off-ball cutter and fantastic perimeter defender, two skills that Los Angeles just hopped Westbrook would develop after 13 NBA seasons.
James missed 26 games, Davis missed 42, and a mostly-healthy Westbrook helped L.A. fall to a miserable 33-49 record and miss the playoffs entirely. Now, with almost all of last season's supporting cast gone (and Westbrook potentially on the move next), the Lakers are looking to claw their way back into the postseason conversation. If there's one thing about this year we can glean from these early pictures, it's this: at least LeBron's feet will look cool this season.
